In continutation of my A-Z for Escentual.com today’s post focuses on the naughty world of Etat Libre d’Orange. From the weird and wonderful to the downright disgusting Etat Libre d’Orange is a brand that never fails to shock, surprise and wow with their range of exciting and unique perfumes.
Click on the image above to head over to the Escentual Blog and read about my favourite picks from one of my most loved brands.
I often find myself staring at my perfume shelf of a morning, glancing over the cluttered bottles and pensively deciding what to wear. The question that regularly pops in to my mind during my ritual browsing is “Hmmm, what am I in the mood for today?” and it’s funny how our moods, along with other external factors such as season, fashion and weather influence our choices in regards to perfume.
But how about fragrances that do more than compliment our mood? Those fragrances that go one step further to enhance the emotions we feel and boost our moods. Perfume is after all, an incredibly emotional art, capturing nature and bottling memories. The power of scent to affect how we feel is undeniable.
In conjunction with some of my favourite bloggers I would like to share with you two fragrances that enhance my mood. As the world of perfume brings me nothing but happiness I thought it appropriate that both of my fragrant suggestions be ones that spark feelings of joy and serenity, with one in particular having priceless sentimental value.
[Don’t forget to head over to Persolaise, Olfactoria’s Travels, Eyeliner on a Cat and Fragrant Moments to read about their mood-enhancing perfumes!]
In continuation of my Escentual A-Z of Fragrance, this weeks post for Escentual.com is all about the only ‘D’ that would be acceptable – Dior. Click on the link above to read my guide to the world of Dior and some of my favourite fragrances that the house has to offer.
Also, feel free to leave a comment on the Escentual blog stating which of the Dior fragrances are your favourite, and why!
If I were to pose most perfume-addicts the question; “are you in the mood for oud?” the response would likely be a resounding ‘no’, with a good few exasperated sighs and possibly one or two slaps to the face for good measure. The simple fact is that oud, the noble rot from the Aquilaria tree, is over exposed in the world of perfume and one cannot step into their local fragrance hall without being bombarded by “THE LATEST OUD FRAGRANCE FROM XXX” or “LOOK, WE’VE MADE A PERFUME AND IT HAS OUD IN IT, ACTUAL OUD (KINDA, NOT REALLY)!”.
But I refuse to be disheartened by the oud trend, because that’s exactly what it is – a trend, and we all know that trends are transient in nature, meaning that it’ll all be over before we know it. In reality this trend is far from being all bad, after all there are some great oud-based scents out there (check out my Guide to Oud), with perhaps the best in most recent years being Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s incandescent OUD.
“The creation of the OUD mood collection is a tribute to the type of perfume that makes you feel as if you are wrapped in a rare, delicate material, one that is in perfect harmony with a warm, gentle, refined state of mind.”
Following on from the success of last year’s incandescent OUD, Francis Kurkdjian has added not one, but three new oud fragrances to his Maison. Named ‘OUD Mood’ this collection takes inspiration from the soft feel of fabric, namely; Silk, Velvet and Cashmere. Each one offering a brand new and interesting texture of oud and serving as a wave of refreshment for tired, bored and frankly cranky perfume lovers.
Last year I was invited by the vivacious Lila Das Gupta of Olfactory Events to hold a talk on the subject of summer fragrances for Perfume Lovers London. It is a day that I will never forget – the weather was beautiful and being the day before the Olympics the excitement in the city was palpable (we even caught the Olympic Torch on Oxford Street) and the evening was fun, fragrant and filled with wonderful perfume people.
This year I have been invited back for The Candy Perfume Boy’s Summer Special Take 2 on Thursday 18 July 2013. The evening will consist of many a summer fragrance as well as the possibility of an even more colourful shirt than last year’s…
Perfume can be used to evoke a variety of emotions; joy, lust, sadness and love but perhaps the strongest emotion perfume can instil is a sense of comfort. At times when the weather or life is cruel a warm, enveloping perfume can shroud the wearer in layers of liquid armour that fights off the world’s negative elements.
When thinking of comforting perfumes one’s mind drifts easily in to the world of the gourmand, whose inhabitants are olfactory dinners, puddings and treats for those that wish to take comfort in food without the calories. They are comfort on a plate or in a bottle.
Perhaps the most comforting gourmand notes of all is chocolate and it is very much an accord that can go either way with a tendency to be cloying and sickly if used incorrectly. If you are a chocoholic like I am then this guide to the fragrant delights of the genre should serve as a delicious tour of pure delight.
If you hadn’t guessed already, Monday is my Escentual post day and this week’s feature is a review of the newly relaunched Miss Dior Eau de Toilette. You know the one that used to be Miss Dior Cherie, but is now Miss Dior, not to be confused with the original Miss Dior which is now Miss Dior Original? Got that?
Despite the name-based confusion it is a very nice scent indeed, please click on the image above to see my review!
Now here’s an interesting idea! Dutch artists Lernert & Sander have created a perfume made entirely of perfume samples, 1400 to be exact. The perfume (or shall we say concoction) is entitled ‘Everything’ and contains just about every perfume launched in 2012.
I wonder how it smells? Probably pretty awful to be honest, but if you are intrigued to give it a whiff you can do so at Colette in Paris during the first week of March.
For a full list of the fragrances included in ‘Everything’ click here and for more details on Lernert & Sander click here.
Apologies once again for the lack of posts over the last few weeks, our little cat Paddington has been quite poorly, which mixed with a very hectic work schedule has meant that my head hasn’t really been in the right space for blogging.
Tomorrow I shall return with the next instalment in my ‘Guide to’ series, in the meantime please click on the image above to head over to Escentual.com to read the latest in the Escentual A-Z of Fragrance; ‘C is for Celebuscents…’
Please click the image above to head on over to Escentual.com to read the latest instalment in my Escentual A-Z of Fragrance. The letter of the day is ‘B’ and we’re focusing on the wonderful and snuffly note of Benzoin.
The Candy Perfume Boy 